We own the technology decisions so you do not have to
The plan, the vendors, the spend, and continuous oversight, handled by one firm. Daily support remains with your team or with the IT provider we help you select.
Technology management · North Carolina
Third Shift Group is the part-time CIO for your technology plan, vendors, and spend.
Third Shift Group is a technology management firm. We serve as your part-time CIO, owning the technology plan, the vendor relationships, the budget, and the recommendations. Our specialties are AI management, monthly technology spend reporting, and Microsoft 365. If you have no help desk or no IT provider, we select one and manage that relationship. We do not provide daily support.
Technology management — sample client
● Active
Part-time CIO · plan and vendorsActive
Technology spend reportMonthly
AI Use PolicyAdopted
Microsoft 365 tenant monitoringLive
Help desk / IT providerManaged
Automation in your platformQueued
We manage the technology process. Daily support remains with your team or with the IT provider we help you select.
A named owner
One person for the plan, the vendors, and the spend.
Your Microsoft cloud account
The dashboard runs in your own subscription, and you retain administrative control.
Straightforward billing
One monthly bill for subscriptions; our work billed monthly or by the hour.
Your help desk keeps its role
Daily support and user requests remain with your team or your IT provider.
In plain terms
What a technology management firm does, at three depths.
What that looks like in a month
A part-time CIO works on your plan and your vendor decisions. Your AI rules are put in writing and the AI tools already in use are inventoried. Technology spend is reported monthly, and your Microsoft 365 environment is reviewed rather than assumed. If a help desk is missing, we select one.
The method, step by step
We begin with the CIO role, or with a review of the systems you already run. The dashboard follows in your own account, along with Microsoft 365 work and automation in the platform you own. How the method works.
The gap
Your systems are running, but no one owns the technology plan.
Most companies have accounts, laptops, email, and either an IT firm or an office manager already at capacity. No one is setting priorities, reviewing spend, or deciding where AI is permitted. Reporting still lives in spreadsheets, and the help desk, where one exists, has no one directing it.
- 01No owner. Vendor, renewal, and AI tool decisions are made between other priorities.
- 02No spend view. License and subscription cost is invisible until a renewal lands in the inbox.
- 03No one directing the work. Your IT provider or help desk, if you have one, has no written priorities. If you have neither, no one is looking for a provider.
The method
We assess your environment before we build anything.
The method is fixed so that you know what happens and what it costs, and the plan that results belongs to you. There is no extended discovery phase, no rebuild from scratch, and nothing is built before we have reviewed the systems you run.
A part-time CIO, from day one if you want it.
vCIO Solutions owns the plan, the vendors, the budget, and the recommendations, and carries no requirement to purchase delivery work. If you have no IT provider or help desk, this is where we select one.
You receive a written assessment and a recommendation, whether or not you continue.
List what runs. Mark what connects.
We list your applications and decide which systems can be connected, and which old reports can be retired. The systems marked to connect become the plan for the dashboard.
Nothing gets connected until the policy says it may be.
One dashboard, in your own Microsoft cloud account.
We set up the standard Third Shift dashboard, the same core set of reports every client receives:
- Runs in your own Microsoft cloud account
- Pulls data from your connected systems
- A standard IT spend report, built in
- Your Azure and security subscriptions are bought from Third Shift and arrive on one monthly bill.
What you hold
Where you stand once the dashboard is live.
One live dashboard, and reporting you can plan around instead of another surprise renewal.
- ✓A part-time CIO on the plan, the vendors, and the spend
- ✓A live dashboard in your own Microsoft cloud account, with administrative control retained by you
- ✓IT spend visible monthly, not discovered at renewal
- ✓AI rules in writing, and Microsoft 365 work delivered as design, remediation, and reporting
- ✓One monthly bill for subscriptions; our work billed monthly or by the hour
Ongoing work
What continues after the dashboard goes live.
Maintain
Monthly dashboard maintenance keeps connections, data, and reports current as your systems change.
Standard · monthlyMonitor
The AI security subscription enforces your AI rules and flags new AI sign-ups. Monitoring continues outside business hours.
Standard · monthlyDevelop
AI development here means automation built into the platform you already own, inside the policy. Not a custom-model shop.
By featureEvolve
Each automation removes one more manual step from how your business runs.
OngoingQuestions
Frequently asked questions
What does Third Shift actually do?
Third Shift is a technology management firm. We serve as the part-time CIO for a small number of companies, owning the plan, the vendors, the spend, and the recommendations. We specialize in AI (the rules, the tools already running, and automation built into what you own), technology spend you can see monthly, and Microsoft 365 tenant work. If you have no help desk or no MSP, we find that firm and stay on the process. We do not run tickets, devices, or day-to-day administration. People still search for “AI management company”; that is a specialty, not the name of the firm.
Can you find us a help desk or an MSP?
Yes. If your company has no help desk or no MSP, we select a firm that can do that day-to-day work, set the priorities they work against, and manage the process. They contract with you and bill you. We may earn a referral under our agreement with the provider. We do not claim the recommendation is vendor-independent, and we do not publish a partner list.
Who owns the dashboard and the data?
You own the dashboard and the data. The platform runs in your own Microsoft cloud account, on your subscription, under your name. If the engagement with Third Shift ends, the platform and all of its data stay with you. We hold no keys you cannot take back.
Do you replace our IT team or MSP?
No. Third Shift does not replace your IT team or your IT firm. They keep the network, the computers, the email, and the help desk running. We own the plan they work against: vendors, spend, AI rules, and Microsoft 365. If you have no IT firm or no help desk, we find that company and stay on the process. They bill you. We do not take the ticket queue.
Advisory
An owner for the technology, and what comes next.
A part-time CIO
The plan, the vendors, the budget, and the recommendations, owned by one accountable executive on a monthly agreement. Three tiers, sized to the decisions involved. There is no requirement to purchase delivery work, and if a help desk is missing, we select one.
Marketplace and agents
The marketplace is live for Azure, security, and Microsoft 365 subscriptions, bought from Third Shift on one monthly bill. AI agents offered through it are planned and dated, and we state clearly what is not yet available.
One protected place
Engagement status, your adopted policy, tickets, and reports, behind your Microsoft sign-in. Live for invited accounts.
Industries and locations
The same method, in the industries and the places we work.
Eight industries, and the Carolinas from Charlotte and Raleigh to the Upstate and the Lowcountry. Every page says what the setup looks like there and what the first three reports would be.
Accounting, tax, and CPA firms
Client financials in personal AI accounts, and partner reporting rebuilt by hand every quarter.
Legal, consulting, and agency firms
They asked for an automation, and the environment needed a written rule first.
Light manufacturing and industrial
An unenforceable ban upstairs, and a monthly report assembled from three exports by hand.
All industries · Where we work · North Carolina · South Carolina · Who we are
Next step
Start with an introductory conversation.
Tell us who owns technology decisions today and who handles daily support. You leave the first meeting with a written assessment and a recommendation, not a sales presentation.